by Rosette Lex
DORAN
The Alien Dragon’s Chosen
Astral Guardians Book 2
Rosette Lex
Copyright 2016 by Rosette Lex
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced
in any way whatsoever, without written permission
from the author, except in case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews
and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any
person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
First edition, 2016
Chapter 1
Sabrina
My feet pounded against the slippery debris laden forest floor. It was pitch black and the freezing air raked in and out of my lungs in desperate puffs. I needed to get away, I needed to get away, I needed to get away. All I could hear was the deafening crunch of my heavy frantic steps as I ran from him, Angel, the guy I thought was actually attracted to me. How did I get to that point? Running for my life and my virtue through the dark cold forest alone, apart from him who only wanted to hurt me in the end.
I still remember what had happened a day earlier…
I glanced at my face in the mirror for a last minute check. My makeup was still in place. Thank goodness the flying champagne didn’t melt it off. It was New Year’s Eve and my friend from work, Chelsea, was throwing a party to count down to the New Year.
When the clock struck twelve, everyone celebrated, confetti was thrown, dramatic kisses were displayed while champagne popped and sprayed everywhere. I unfortunately had a bunch of wet spots all over my new dress. It was one of the few I had found that perfectly complemented my generous curves. So what if I carried about fifteen extra pounds, right? I loved my curves and wasn’t afraid to show them off when I had the perfect outfit.
Only now, my perfect outfit looked like a popular painting made of rayon and champagne. I sighed and pulled my long auburn hair over my shoulders. The dress had gotten wet mostly around my chest area, so my nipples were naturally pretty visible as it was freezing outside on the patio and deck where the party was being held.
As I looked in the bathroom mirror, I wondered if I should just leave. It’s not like I knew my work ‘friends’ all that well. Plus, I had dressed up for pretty much nothing as most of the guys at the party were cute and usually the cute ones ignored me. No doubt, my hips were a little wider and my breasts a little heavier.
I was still attractive; my hair was a natural deep red and my skin tone was a pale cream color that thankfully didn’t blemish often. I had what was often seen as striking forest green eyes and those high cheekbones and pouty lips some women envied.
I sighed and then finally left the bathroom to go and find Chelsea to let her know that I was leaving. I didn’t want her ugly cousin Larry coming up to me again. Just because I was a little curvy didn’t mean I had to settle for guys I was in no way attracted to.
As I pulled open the glass door that led out to Chelsea’s backyard, the odd mixture of warm air from the heat lamps and outdoor fireplace with the winter cold hit me. I glanced around the upper deck of people seated at tables and the couches that surrounded the fireplace. The party had thinned out some as people usually visited several New Year’s parties in one night. I spotted Chelsea down on the patio by the bar and I descended the deck steps to say my goodbyes.
That’s when I saw him. He had light blond hair that was perfectly coiffed and crystal blue eyes that seemed nothing but kind and open. He had a clean look to him in his black button down, gold tie, and dark jeans. He was definitely cute in a boy next-door sort of way. He smiled at me and his smile was what dazzled me. He even had a dimple in his left cheek.
“Hi, I’m Angel,” he held out his hand for me to shake and I did so a bit shyly. I was definitely not used to someone attractive coming up to me with a charming smile that definitely seemed flirty.
“I’m Sabrina, nice to meet you,” I said and smiled at him politely. Angel gestured to the party and people who were talking, laughing, or dancing.
“Are you enjoying the party?” he asked and for the life of me, I couldn’t fathom why he seemed sort of nervous talking to me.
“Yeah I was, until midnight hit and I was sprayed with champagne, as you can see,” I gestured to my dress and Angel’s blue eyes lazily ran over my body, a sort of thrill ran through me and I began to wonder if Angel was really attracted to me.
“It’s not so bad, plus I think your hair is covering most of the damage. And I have to admit that you have beautiful hair…and you are beautiful in general,” my eyes widened in pleasure as a blush spread over my cheeks, he just called me beautiful.
“Thank you, that was very sweet, I don’t normally hear that compliment.” I said and Angel smiled at me charmingly.
“Well, people are fools if they don’t see how gorgeous you are. So, can I get you a drink from the bar?” Angel offered and I thought why not.
“Sure, that would be great,” I said and told him I’d like a cranberry and vodka as we walked over to the bar which actually had a few seats surrounding it. We sat down after he got our drinks.
“So tell me, why were you so surprised to hear my compliment?” Angel asked as he sipped his old fashioned. I blushed again and then gave a small shrug.
“Guys I think are cute don’t normally give me compliments like that…” I realized I had just embarrassingly admitted that I was attracted to him. Angel grinned, he didn’t seem mocking or anything, it was a normal, pleased grin.
“First I’d like to say that those guys don’t know what they’re passing up on. Secondly, you think I’m cute?” Angel said with that same grin. I giggled, a bit nervously, and then nodded. I was afraid of saying anything else I’d rather not say out loud. “Well that betters my chances then,” Angel said with a wink. I took a sip of my drink and then wondered what he meant by that.
“Better your chances for what?” I asked curiously and Angel smiled at me as if he thought I was being cute.
“For asking you out. I’d love it if we could go out tomorrow night?” Angel seemed hopeful and I was honestly really glad to be dating someone I was genuinely attracted to and not just talking to out of lack of a better option. I had a lot of first dates though and not much else, needless to say I was still a virgin because I hadn’t met the right guy yet. Maybe Angel could be the one…
“Sure, I’d love to go out with you tomorrow,” I said with an excited smile and we made plans for seven the next night. After which, we talked some more and pretty much made fun of all the drunken people at the party. Afterwards, I had gone home happier than I had been in a while.
When Saturday night came around, I had dressed in one of the few pair of jeans that made my butt look really attractive along with a green sweater that dipped a little low in the front. I usually wore a scarf with that one anyway, but that night, I wanted to be a little sexy. Angel and I met up at a popular diner in Keene. Everything had gone great, he seemed like a great guy and really nice too. Then after dinner, he wanted to ‘show me something.’
“I found this really cool bluff while hiking the other day and it actually had a dirt road leading there. It has the best view, I promise we’ll just drive there and then I’ll bring you back to your car here,” Angel seemed really eager to show me his little discovery and I agreed. I really didn’t think anything of it. That is unti
l we drove way too far away from town for my comfort.
“So, where are we going again?” I asked Angel a bit nervously, he glanced at me with an odd quirk of his lips as his hands tightened their grip on the steering wheel of his big jeep.
“I told you that already, just trust me, this view is a killer,” Angel chuckled to an inside joke then and my heart picked up its pace a little. Why would he laugh at his own joke, especially one as creepy as that? Eventually, Angel found the one-way dirt road that led into the woods and soon we were pulling up pretty close to the edge of a huge bluff.
I could faintly hear the running river down below when Angel rolled down the windows. The view of the night sky was pretty spectacular. I could see almost all of the stars in the galaxy. The winter night was clear as Keene had a break from the snow that weekend. It was peaceful in an icy way that only the season could bring.
“You were right, I’m glad you dragged me out here,” I said with a soft chuckle to my voice. I put my hand on the door handle to step outside so I could see past the confines of the truck. But Angel pressed the lock button and the sound of the door locks sounded like a gauntlet through the quiet moment. I glanced over at Angel, my unease coming back doubly from before and my heart picked up it’s pace in my chest. “What…are you doing?” I asked and Angel smiled at me menacingly.
“I thought we could stay in the car, plus it’s warmer in here,” Angel said while he edged closer to me. I was grateful for the center console that separated us, but it didn’t matter much as it was just the two of us in his car in the middle of nowhere. My eyes widened with the realization and Angel smiled even wider when he caught sight of the fear in my eyes. He then lithely climbed over the middle and straddled me in the passenger seat. He forced my arms underneath his thighs so that I couldn’t fight him off. Everything had happened so fast I didn’t have time to react anyways.
“I could tell you were a little virgin slut from the first moment I laid eyes on you. It should be fun taking you through your first time,” Angel said hoarsely, his hot breath gusted over my face as he was on top of me and I bit back the bile from my throat. I tried to buck him off of me, but he was too heavy and that was when panic started to set in.
He was going to rape me right there in the jeep, in the middle of nowhere with only the stars as witnesses. Adrenaline surged through my veins, dissipating the constricting panic and with renewed strength; I bucked Angel off of me. He fell sideways onto the middle console and I scrambled out of the vehicle.
I started to run towards the tree line, but then, I felt his hand slap down on my shoulder. I screamed and Angel pulled me back and shoved me up against his jeep. His thick forearm pressed against my throat and my breathing became shallower and shallower as I tried to fight away from him.
Angel was fumbling with my jeans and I kicked at him. He elbowed me in the temple and the world greyed and lost focus. All of a sudden, I was on the ground and Angel was forcing my pants down. I screamed loudly and Angel got up to kick me hard in the side. All the air left my lungs and for a few agonizing seconds, I couldn’t take air into my lungs.
He was back to fumbling with my pants and for a brief second, I was able to focus enough to headbutt him and shove my fingers into his eyes as his head ricocheted back. Angel fell squarely onto his ass and I hurried up and sprinted into the woods. I didn’t know where I was going, but I needed to get away from him.
So there I was running from Angel as he gained on me steadily. Soon, I wasn’t going to be able to outrun him. The tears started coming, blurring my already unfocused vision and I couldn’t help the desperate whimpers that escaped my lips as terror coursed through my body, slowing my steps even further.
“You might as well give up Sabrina, you won’t have enough energy left to fight me. God knows I love it when they fight back,” Angel’s menacing bark came from too close behind me. I could practically feel his breath on my neck and I gave a shrill scream before he tackled me to the ground.
My face was shoved into the rough ground, and all I smelled was leaves, earth, and cold. Angel was an anvil on my lower back and I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for him to simply get it over with. Then all of a sudden his weight was just…gone. I looked up, my eyes wide open, and saw Angel flying across a short distance and slamming against a tree. He crumpled to the ground and gasped for breath.
“You should move out of the way,” the growled voice sounded from directly behind me. Hot hands helped me up with surprising gentleness and I backed away from him. He was big and he was…changing.
His body was elongating and growing bigger. I couldn’t make out his features because he was turning into a huge white dragon, though the spikes on his spine were tipped with grey. His eyes were bright blue, glowing as if lit from within.
The dragon was about the size of a monster truck. The kind you see in the rally’s crushing six regular sized cars at once. He growled and stalked towards Angel who was now crouching in front of the tree he was thrown back against. The dragon inhaled deeply and then, like a fire breather at a fair, he breathed a plume of fire in Angel’s direction. Angel pressed back against the tree and I watched wide-eyed. I was leaning against a fallen tree with one hand on my neck and the other clutching my side.
Angel pulled something out of his pocket, his phone, and then he shone the flashlight directly into the dragon’s eye. The dragon breathed another plume of fire, but it was clear to see Angel blinded him. Angel scrambled away while the Dragon moved its head from left to right, trying to see past the blind spots that were probably in his vision.
By the time the massive creature seemed to have regained its proper sight, Angel was gone. I was left alone with the huge beast that could tear me to shreds and burn me to an unrecognizable crisp.
I sank down to the ground; exhaustion and gravity teaming up to bring me down in a heap. My heart felt like it was beating too slowly and I started to feel the cold air seep into my veins. Was I dying?
I heard the dragon step over to me and his head lowered down to sniff me. My vision tunneled and I barely remember what happened. But the next thing I knew, I was no longer on the ground, but on the dragon’s warm back and the trees were gliding by far below us.
Chapter 2
Doran
Two Days ago…
“Doran, we must discuss a matter,” Tristan clapped my shoulder as he rounded the corner into my kitchen. It was near three in the morning and Tristan’s patrol around our lands had just ended. Though I wondered what he had to speak with me about. Tristan hardly spent time away from his new mate unless he absolutely had to.
“What is so important that you are in my company instead of your charming Malina’s?” Tristan flashed me a scowl. He was extremely possessive of his new mate and often chaffed whenever I or any one of us spoke of her. I laughed at Tristan’s expression and he rolled his eyes.
“I will return to her as soon as our business here ends.” Tristan grumbled and I held my hands up in joking surrender.
“Of course, so what is our ‘business’ here?” I asked while I went to have a seat at the circular kitchen table. Tristan followed me and sat down across from me. His expression grew grave and he took a deep breath before he spoke.
“Our race is in danger. Thanks to our…display the night that we destroyed Arianna’s home as well as Safir’s conspicuous shifting when his mating urges were aroused, we’ve been found out.”
My eyes widened as I thought of the possible consequences. Lord Safir and Lady Arianna were out of country, though when they returned, she would be very pregnant with Safir’s child. Josiah had just moved his mate into his home on our land and Tristan had his own woman to protect. Not to mention, we were the only of our kind on this planet. We could be wiped out with one long range missile from any human military and our newly growing race would be put down before we could truly flourish.
“It is serious, as the people who discovered us are geneticists. When Arianna’s apartment was investigated, our
blood was taken as samples and a group of scientists have been studying our genetic makeup since then. They caught on to the fact that we can mate and reproduce with human women, they know that our genes are dominant and we can reproduce quickly. They seek to wipe us out, they have been hunting us, looking for trails, anything that would lead them here,” Tristan said, his tone and the look in his eyes grave.
“Does Safir know of this?” Tristan shook his head no.
“If he did, he would return to protect us. We cannot risk Lady Arianna being hurt because she carries his heir. We must handle this ourselves Doran,” Tristan was right, it would be foolish to put the leader of our race in danger as well as his pregnant wife.
“So what is our plan? What else have you found out?” I asked Tristan and he stood to begin pacing. His expression reflected one of deep thought.
There is a man, who has been recently moved to the city, he has been fishing around town for intelligence. Asking locals about the lore and rumors surrounding Safir’s sighting and things of the sort. Rayne had picked up on him and has been loosely trailing him. We need to capture him to find out what he knows and to find this group of scientists.” Tristan stood for a moment and pulled out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket.
